Report - London Borough of Hillingdon

37. If Cabinet agrees that such expenditure should be incurred the matter will
then have to be referred to full Council for ratification.
38. Clearly, in view of the projected maintenance costs, the decision as to
whether the Council should acquire The Barn is not straightforward. The Cabinet is
required to make a 'Wednesbury reasonable' decision and it has to balance the fact
that The Barn is a building of national importance with much public support for its
acquisition, together with the huge benefits of public access and the education
opportunities which it affords, against the Council's fiduciary duty.
39. The well-being power referred to above enables the Council to incur
expenditure. No limit on this expenditure is prescribed by the 2000 Act but the
Council owes a fiduciary duty to all the Council Tax payers in the Borough and
therefore it has to decide, inter alia, what would be a reasonable level of
maintenance costs and identify what works are to be a priority. In this respect the
Cabinet should have regard to the advice of the Director of Finance and the Head of
Corporate Property.
40. However, it should be noted that if a decision is made to acquire The Barn,
immediate works would need to be undertaken to The Barn to ensure that the
Council meets its obligations under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and
Regulations made pursuant to it.
41. The Cabinet, in making its decision, should also have regard to any likely
financial contributions which the Council is likely to receive. An offer of financial
support has been made by English Heritage. It has agreed to pay just over 40% of
the cost of the condition survey together with a contribution of approximately £1,000
per annum towards the maintenance costs. A Maintenance Agreement would
accordingly have to be drawn up between the Council and English Heritage.
42. The possibility of receiving a funding contribution from Hillingdon Community
Trust is also referred to in the body of the report and the Cabinet will need to weigh
up whether such a contribution is to be made, and if so, the extent of it before
making a decision.
43. Finally, the Borough Solicitor's Department has already undertaken some
preliminary legal work in connection with the possible acquisition of The Barn and in
the event that Cabinet decides that the Council should acquire this building, every
effort will be made to ensure that the conveyancing process meets the Receiver's
deadlines but, at the same time, the necessary steps will be taken to ensure that the
Council's interests are sufficiently protected.
Corporate Property Services
44. The projected costs as set out in the consultant’s report clearly identify the
future liability that the Council would need to take on board. Even if Heritage Lottery
Funding was to contribute 50% of the costs (there may even be a possibility of
receiving 75% contribution), the commitment is still substantial both in the short and
medium term. Harmondsworth Barn has Scheduled Ancient Monument status. This
PART 1 – MEMBERS, PUBLIC AND PRESS
Cabinet report 10 th November 2005 Page 281